


Dock

by JoAsakura



Series: Dust and Dreaming [1]
Category: Dragon Age, Dragon Age II
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-17
Updated: 2011-05-17
Packaged: 2017-10-19 12:24:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/200815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoAsakura/pseuds/JoAsakura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Before the Deep Roads, Anders tries to get to know Hawke a little better.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dock

Scene: two men eating on a rat-infested Kirkwall pier. The meal barely merits the name, a chunk of stale bread, a dried piece of "qunari" cheese from Gamlen and a jug of unidentifiable swill that Varric had sworn was rum. Maybe. Possibly.

The pier is crumbling, utterly decrepit. It smells like low tide and garbage but it has the singular distinction of not having a view of the gallows.

The two men are not lovers yet. They will be someday, and it will end in blood and tears and fire. For now, they are still navigating the preliminaries.

~~~

Anders has told him things he thought he'd never tell anyone. One didn't simply tell strangers one was essentially an abomination after all. But he realizes he knows next to nothing about the gorgeous redhead who'd breezed into his clinic looking for maps to the deep roads.

What Anders did know was that Hawke was charming, helpful and kind. He also *never* talked about himself. He spoke of his weaselly uncle they were mooching off of, and his family. He joked about the Templars and the merchants in Hightown, made endless wild guesses about the upcoming journey into the deep roads and he seemed to never run out of questions for Anders and their other acquaintances.

Hawke was in the middle of some rambling observation about Lowtown when Anders decided he'd had enough. He shoved a piece of dried cheese in Hawke's mouth to shut him up, and the man blinked. "mrf?"

"You never speak of yourself, Hawke." the Mage said, taking a sip of the swill. He grimaced, then offered the bottle to his companion. "if I'm going to follow you into the blighted deep roads, shouldn't I know a little about you?" he said it lightly.

Hawke gnawed on the cheese thoughtfully for a moment, then he shrugged, broad shoulders rolling gracefully.

"For the record, I wasn't going to ask you to go with us. The maps were enough, and I know you don't want to go back..." he said, dodging the question.

"I'm a healer." Anders said, leaning back to squint up at the hazy sun. "It's in your best interest to bring me. Besides..." he glanced over at the man next to him. "I like you. I'd hate to see you end up dead."

Hawke chuckled, tucking his long legs up under him as he pulled off a piece of bread. "I... Appreciate that." he said, meeting Anders' gaze under half-closed eyes.

"And you dodged the question." Anders said, lying back on the dock, watching a few gulls wheel overhead.

"damn cagey mages." Hawke muttered with a pained sigh. "ok. What do you want to know?"

"anything. As long as it's about you." Anders considered the bottle again, and decided against it. "say, for instance, what are you good at, other than charming me into giving up warden maps?"

"Killing people and having sex, basically." Hawke said without a trace of sarcasm. When Anders poorly suppressed a snort, Hawke rolled his eyes.

"we were always poor." Hawke flicked a piece of bread at Anders and took a swig from the bottle. "my father made a little coin as a mercenary, but work wasn't regular, and frankly, my mother's skill in orlesian-style embroidery wasn't in much demand in a lot of the places we lived."

"so what did you do?" Anders scooted over to let Hawke sprawl next to him.

"For one, I learned to hunt as soon as I was old enough to pull a bow." Hawke shielded his eyes from the sun. "Have you ever attempted to hunt with magic? The first time I saw my father incinerate a squirrel was enough for me." he laughed. "I took my responsibilities as an eldest son and older brother very seriously, you know." he said with mock gravity.

"yes, I've seen. You're ... Very good at killing things." Anders admitted.

"I am." Hawke made a vague gesture. "And looting the bodies." He chuckled again, then grew serious. "I had to be. When the twins were still small, father fell ill and... He never quite recovered. It was like the wasting, but it took so long." he sighed and Anders felt a twinge of guilt for bringing up what was obviously a bad memory.

"I took whatever jobs I could find. I served as a tracker, as a smuggler.. I had a few occasions to be an assassin." he said. "when there was no work, I found that i could make fairly regular coin selling my ass to the local garrison of the glorious Fereldan army."

Anders made a sympathetic noise and Hawke shook his head, coppery hair drifting across his face. "no, don't feel sorry for me. I didn't mind." he smiled faintly. "a little coin and a bit of pleasure? There are worse things. Flames, if this expedition doesn't work out, I might see if the Rose is hiring, for what its worth."

"It would be a great loss to the world of killing things and looting their remains." Anders rolled towards him, reaching a tentative hand towards Hawke. "but I do see a lot of their employees. It would be a good excuse to see you more."

"I'm a bad man, Anders." Hawke said gently. "I don't feel regret about the things I've done."

"You're a good man who is a very bad liar." Anders said, pushing a few stray copper hairs from Hawke's forehead. "I'm glad you came into my clinic, Serah Hawke."

"Huh. To the future, then?" Hawke hoisted the bottle of swill.

"and whatever it might bring." Anders answered, watching the sun dip, bloody red, behind the cliffs of Kirkwall. "whatever it might bring."


End file.
